Viagra
Robin Williams: Live on Broadway, 2002
Find on Amazon“God gave men a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time.”
Williams goes on a blistering riff about Viagra—not just the drug, but the entire cultural phenomenon of pharmaceutical companies discovering they could sell erections to aging men and the civilization-altering consequences.
He performs the drug's side effects list as a horror movie trailer, acts out the "call your doctor if your erection lasts more than four hours" warning with escalating panic, and imagines the board meeting where someone decided this was a good product to advertise during family television.
The physical comedy is legendary. Williams mimes the journey of a man taking Viagra for the first time with such specificity that the audience follows every beat without a word being spoken. His body becomes the punchline.
Underneath the physicality is a sharp observation about masculinity: men would rather take a pill with potentially fatal side effects than admit vulnerability. Williams finds both the comedy and the tragedy in that fact.
Watch Robin Williams: Live on Broadway
Streaming
Similar Bits
“Her time is more expensive than your time.”
Elephant in the Room - Time
Patrice O'Neal
Elephant in the Room, 2011
“Shell shock. Battle fatigue. Post-traumatic stress disorder. The pain is completely buried under jargon.”
Soft Language
George Carlin
Doin' It Again, 1990
“Shaq is rich. The white man who signs his check is wealthy.”
Rich vs. Wealthy
Chris Rock
Never Scared, 2004
“I've never been that lost.”
Killin' Them Softly - White People
Dave Chappelle
Killin' Them Softly, 2000
More from Robin Williams
“Golf is the only sport where a middle-aged white man can dress like a pimp and get away with it.”
Golf
Robin Williams
Robin Williams: Live on Broadway, 2002
“Personal space—it's not a suggestion, it's a psychological need.”
Elbow Room
Robin Williams
Robin Williams: Live on Broadway, 2002
“To be or not to be—THAT is the question, brother!”
Shakespeare as a Wrestler
Robin Williams
Robin Williams: Live on Broadway, 2002